You may wonder how some specimens manage to qualify for inclusion in a list of drought-tolerant trees, while others do not. The qualifiers possess certain beneficial traits that help them withstand dry climates better. There are common threads that run through some of the selections on this list. The Warnell School of Forest Resources points to a few of these beneficial traits, citing:
Leaves that use water efficientlyNatural protective waxes on leavesExtensive root systems that are able to extract any available moisture from the soil
If you’re already familiar with Ginkgo biloba and hate it, there’s a good chance you’re thinking of the messy female trees (this species is dioecious). The “fruit” produced by the females is a smelly, slippery nuisance, meaning that they don’t make good street trees. But the same objection can’t be leveled at the males, since they lack this undesirable feature. Maidenhair trees are also pollution-tolerant.
